We arrived in Kansas in the middle of June, and since our arrival I have been desiring to have an active hummingbird feeder in my yard. Our neighbor across the street had an incredibly active feeder when we arrived, so I was happy to try to set a hummingbird feeder in my own front yard. Once I did, however, I never saw a hummingbird.
To my disappointment, we tried different locations around my yard to see if maybe some of his birds would venture across the street toward my direction. It was even more discouraging when I moved the feeder to the back yard and my town house next door neighbor put out a feeder that became active. Then, I made some final changes and over the weekend, I finally achieved my goal. Through the trial and error of my feeder, I gained several lessons learned from the experience.
First, we discovered that if the feeder is close to a tree, the birds have a place to perch and dive in to eat at the feeder. This is why we finally moved the feeder to the back yard. I did have a couple of birds visit but not enough to notice.
The second lesson learned was to keep the water reservoir filled. This has nothing to do with attracting birds, but it has everything to do with not attracting ants. If water reservoir is filled the ants will not come looking for the nectar.
The third lesson that I learned was how to make the right mixture. My first attempts were all made with a store bought red dyed mixture. I thought that would be the best, but was badly mistaken. What was working for everyone else but me was a simple sugar water mixture. So, I put 2 cups of water in the microwave and added a half cup of sugar. You could also use 1 cup water to ¼ cup of sugar. That was the trick. Now my feeder is as active as the others around the neighborhood.
These were some good lessons learned that I can now use as I move to my next home next year, and use them from the start.